What foods are you allergic to?

No dairy for me.
I can taste preservatives 9/10 of the time.

I'm allergic to crustaceans.

I'm not allergic to anything, as far as I know, but I sometimes wonder if some of my food aversions are actually very mild allergies. Like I've always hated milk and foods that are creamy, so possibly I am mildly lactose intolerant.

Melon. Watermelon was the food that alerted me to my allergies — I ate a small wedge one night and my mom thought I was having a heart attack at first. She was on the verge of taking me to the emergency room when the swelling and itching in my mouth and throat started to ease. This was summer of '72 so I would have been, uh, nine. This one's fading slowly and I'm able to eat small amounts of melon without worry.

Raw celery, carrots, broccoli. If they're cooked, I don't have a problem with them. If they're raw, look out.

Raw nuts and groundnuts aka peanuts. Roasted or boiled peanuts, peanut brittle and peanut butter don't give me a problem. Raw peanuts make my mouth moderately itchy. I used to have a big problem with most nuts whether they were raw or cooked, so I haven't tried any raw nuts other than peanuts since I was a little kid.

Thankfully, no problems with fish or shellfish.

If you have a shellfish allergy, be careful of vitamin supplements e.g. Glucosamine is extracted from crab shell, Calcium from oyster shell.

Crustaceans, most ocean fish, beef (any wonder I'm a vegetarian?), spinach, eggs, mangos, cow's milk and 30 or 40 other things. The reaction and severity vary from food to food. Some have waned as I age and others have waxed. Some I eat small amounts of anyway, (SPINACH!) I just try to be careful and then deal with the ensuing stomach cramps, headache or swelling. And yes, it is a pain in the ass. I am very discreet about it. Some people I know, even people I eat out with regularly, have no idea I'm a vegetarian, let alone one who is allergic to so many things.

Nothing so far!

My daughter is allergic to citric acid. Well, not allergic precisely, but she has a condition called Eosiniphylic systitis (it's a cat disease, ask a vet) and CA aggravates it.

Reaction: frequent uses of the restroom and it burns when she does.

Not only does CA come in oranges, limes, etc., but its the "natural preservative" in most EVERYTHING else. Try checking for it on the ingredients list of anything you buy. It's almost guaranteed you'll find it.

Oh Lordy, yeah -- and it's in a lot of Indian food, too, and half the sodas and candies out there. That's gotta be such a hassle.